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If you have a way to put fittings on your 55 gallon drum (I use the blue food-grade HDPE drums which are easy to fit with piping), set it up so that you have the output on one side of the top of the drum, and on the other opening at the top of the drum a vent with 90 degree elbow going to a length of pipe to extend past the top of the drum when placed on its side. Then all you have to do is fill it after you place it on its side (chock it so it doesn't roll) and then you should be able to pump without any problem.

Since there is no side line section and since I am tired of filling feeders by hand, I thought I would post the question here since, at some point, commerical beekeepers where once hobbyists and sideliners. Couple that with all the experiance you all have, I thought it might be a good place to post the question.

I sincerely apologize if this is the wrong place to post such question and would feel free to have the moderator move it if needed.

I do have one. Not sure if it will work with 2:1. Working with two other beekeepers who have posted info on this to help me out. I just want to make sure it will pump cold 2:1. To be honest with you Keith, my back is killing me from hauling buckets around and instead of just buying one and trying it and it not working, they cost a good amount so some research I needed to do and get a better understanding of how they work and what I should look for.

Chef, another idea, if you're using air is to just use a portable 10 gal air tank. Fill it up to 100psi in the shop and and load it on the truck. You don't even need to carry a compressor that way. 10gal at 100psi should be able to generate enough head-pressure in a 55gal drum (20 psi once all the syrup is out) to do what you need quite easily. (Going with what I know: you generally push beer out a tap-handle between 7-20psi depending on the length of the run and the height of the tap-handle in relation to the keg. (add about 5psi for every 10 feet of rise))

Or, you could just use C02 to push, but then the refill isn't free. Although 1 C02 tank would probably push 10 drums of syrup.

I just use a water pump with a 5 hp motor. It's not overkill with cold syrup. I kinda am intrigued with Keith's system. I suppose you use hot water to mix you sugar. How much air does it take to mix your tanK? Does the air come from the brakes on the truck or a shop compressor? It seems relatively simple. One big advantage is that it would be quiet. Chef if you go for a pump, splurge and get a Honda motor, not a Briggs and Stratton. The Honda motor is so much more quiet, well worth the extra dollars in my opinion.